Q&A with Hudl CEO David Graff

Film study as soon as the game is over?

There’s an app for that.

On Thursday, The Oklahoman brought you a story about Hudl, the application that Oklahoma’s football program uses to study practice and game film, film on upcoming opponents and even highlight packages of recruits.

Nobody at Hudl contacted me back by the time the article printed, but yesterday I got a few emails from different people who work at Hudl including David Graff, the CEO. Graff offered to answer any questions I had so I sent him some questions. Following is a Q&A via email::

The Oklahoman: How can Hudl help an collegiate or high school sports program?

David Graff: Our mission is “help coaches win”. We provide coaches with simple tools to access their most important team content (video, scouting reports, presentations) from anywhere. Our software makes it easy to get film from any camera (including your iPhone or iPad) online to exchange to add coaching notes (telestrations, text, and voice) and share with players, to exchange with upcoming opponents, and to share with recruiters.

How many other collegiate football programs use the application and who are they?

We have 10 NFL teams (including the Jets, Patriots, and Redskins), eight NHL teams (including the Canucks, Redwings, and Sharks), two NBA teams (Celtics and Pacers), and 89 Division I college teams (including all 12 Pac-12 teams, 12 SEC teams, 11 Big 10 teams, 11 ACC teams, and nine Big 12 teams, and locally Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Tulsa). In addition, we have about 45% of FCS schools, 88% of both Division II and Division III schools, 98% of NAIA schools, and 90% of the junior colleges in the country.

How many high schools in Oklahoma use the application?

Over 300 high schools in Oklahoma use Hudl (about 85% of the football-playing high schools in the state). Nationally, over 11,000 high schools use Hudl (about 70% of the football-playing high schools).

Can Hudl be accessed on any tablet or phone that takes applications (Google, Android, Amazon, Apple)?

Yes – we have free apps for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, most newer Android phone and tablets, and the Kindle Fire.

How was the app developed? How long does it take? And would you advise others to do the same with an idea they have?

During college, I was a student worker in the (University of Nebraska) athletic department and then stayed on as a graduate assistant while working on my MBA. Through my work there, I had the opportunity to work directly with Bill Callahan (then head football coach of the Huskers) and saw firsthand some of the inefficiencies they had in their processes. If they wanted a player or coach to take video home or on the road with them, they were burning DVDs and losing all the value of the additional data and notes they had broken down on the video.